In recent years, the Canadian government has made major policy changes to the pathway to permanent residency in Canada. How have these changes impacted international students and other applicants seeking to stay?

Come and hear Elizabeth Long, an immigration lawyer with Long Mangalji LLP, speak on her previous year working with PR applicants and her critical reflection on the efficacy of the Express Entry System in meeting Canada’s demand for skilled immigrants. She will focus on how the latest immigration policies affect international students pursuing permanent residency status.

*Please note: Elizabeth will not be able to address individual cases for permanent residency application in detail.

We have a new vacancy on our executive board that we are hoping to fill through an application process.

About us:

Our organization’s vision and operations are made entirely possible through the work of our volunteer ten-person executive. Our current executive comes from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences, united in their desire to improve the experience of young newcomers to our community.

The position offers a great opportunity to make a significant impact on the settlement, success and Canadian experience of thousands of newcomers to our community. Our mandate is formally recognized and supported by McMaster University, Mohawk College, City of Hamilton and many other community organizations. GHC also offers its board valuable hands on experience with networking, event planning, and leadership skills

Your role: The Board is responsible for managing the affairs of Global Hamilton Connect. It plans events and workshops, fosters connections, and takes action to further Global Hamilton Connect’s objectives to connect international students and young newcomers to the city. Executive members are to reflect the vision and mandate of Global Hamilton Connect, actively work towards collective goals, and add value to the group.

Expectations:

We are looking for members who have experience working with or have a strong interest to work with international students and young newcomers in Hamilton.

The Board meets monthly after working hours, typically from 5:30-7 p.m.

Additional attendance is expected to assist with GHC’s planned events (evenings and weekends) and outreach activities (e.g.: Hosting a table at McMaster and Mohawk’s new student orientation events).

Members will serve a two-year term for each member (up until August 2019)

Assist with the plans of the three subcommittees (Outreach, Public Relations, and Events)

Selection criteria: The Executive Board has organized a hiring committee that will select the candidates with the appropriate skills, attitudes, and experiences that work towards GHC’s mandate, while ensuring major sectors of the community are represented and gender and diversity balance are reflected. Our Board is also particularly interested in hearing from candidates with experience and interest in event planning and/or managing budgets.

Application Process:

When applying for the executive board member position, please attached your latest resume and a cover letter (In no more than 300 words each):

Why you are interested in joining the Global Hamilton Connect’s Executive Board

It’s that time of the year again. It’s time for celebrations, reflections as we look forward to a magical festive season ahead and future opportunities in 2018.

Global Hamilton Connect is really grateful for all the opportunities connections and friendships that we’ve made over 2017 in Hamilton. We have been truly fortunate to have worked with the volunteers, supporters and members we’ve met at our socials, hikes and professional development events this past year, as we look forward to continue our collaborations for a better #HamOnt in 2018.

A few of our past and present Global Hamilton Connect executive members came together for a dinner celebrating our fourth year. It is wonderful to see how far our executive members have come! Including our advisors, we come from 13 different countries but continue to be united and sharing the passion for our adopted home town of Hamilton. Our mission: To raise awareness helping international students and newcomers to resources and networks that increases their chances to succeed, showcasing employment and volunteer opportunities by facilitating partnerships with local organizations and employers.

Reflecting on the past year, I’d like to take this opportunity to showcase some of our accomplishments. In collaboration with the Bay Area Restoration Council, our group explored the beautiful waterfront trails in a guided walking tour at the Hamilton Waterfront this past September, having also explored the Christie Lake Conservation Area over the summer.

We also ventured into advocacy, with some of our team members engaging in research related to international students and their barriers to immigrate to Canada. Working with McMaster Research Shop, they developed a policy brief outlining the policy barriers and met with local decision-makers on this issue, including Mayor Fred Eisenberger , MP Filomena Tassi, McMaster University President Patrick Deane, and Mohawk College Dean Keith Monrose. For more information, see this commentary piece in The Hamilton Spectator.

It has been encouraging to have the support from The Government of Ontario being selected for a Multicultural Community Capacity Grant to help support our work with international students and newcomers in Hamilton as we look forward to another exciting year in 2018.

On behalf of our team at Global Hamilton Connect, we want to wish you all an enjoyable holidays ahead and wish you get to enjoy the festivities with your family and/or loved ones and get to explore some exciting festive events happening in and around our Ambitious City of Hamilton.

From McMaster University and Mohawk College: Take any bus heading to downtown Hamilton. Walk to / Stop at Bay at Main. Walk along Bay Street and take Bus #4 at Bay opposite George. Stop at James at Burlington. Walk to William’s Fresh Café.

Enjoy nature’s wonder at Christie Lake Conservation Area! Dubbed as “one of the most beautiful lake settings in the Niagara Escarpment,” Christie Lake is home to beautiful trails and an ideal spot for picknicking.

Join us to experience the great Canadian outdoors!

Saturday, July 15 – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (pick up time included)

Cost: $10 per person. Transportation (round trip) and BBQ lunch included. Limited to 40 seats.* Want to attend but do not have a credit card to purchase tickets online? Email globalhamiltonconnect@gmail.com to register to pay for ticket in cash on July 15.

Discover what makes a great first impression. Tammy Hwang, Business Development Coordinator (City of Hamilton’s Global Hamilton office) and Co-founder (CoMotion Group), will lead us in a workshop on how to perfect your pitch in preparation for job fairs, interviews and networking events.

Learn how to market your skills and talents to a potential employer.

Make new contacts and meet young professionals and entrepreneurs from around the city who will help you practice, give you feedback, and make suggestions on how to better present yourself.

The event will be separated into two parts:

First part: Interactive presentation by Tammy Hwang on how to perfect your elevator pitch and network effectively

Second part: Practice networking session with young professionals, entrepreneurs and employers

What is winter like outside of Canada? For those who are not from Canada, winter is more than just snow, hot chocolate, warm fire places and maple syrup on snow.

Come have a chat with us to learn about winter experiences from all over the world. My Winter is a series of laid-back conversations with newcomers sharing fond memories experiences of winter in their countries.

Want to connect international students to networks and opportunities in Hamilton?

Become a Global Hamilton Connect (GHC) Ambassador!

We are recruiting up to EIGHT (8) people to engage with international students and young immigrants. GHC ambassadors will represent GHC on McMaster University and Mohawk College campuses and other Hamilton locations to:

Raise awareness of GHC, promote GHC activities, and solicit input on upcoming events and activities to our target audience of international students and young immigrants, through orientation week events, table displays, social media, and the like.

Share information with the target audience about other complementary organizations, services, and events that will ease the transition and settlement to Hamilton.

Assist with planning and delivery of GHC events as needed.

Each ambassador will receive an honorarium of $200. This project runs from January to April 2018.

Review the form below for more details and let us know how you would want to be involved. Application deadline currently slated for January 15.

The government has made major policy changes to the pathway to permanent residency in Canada. How have these changes impacted international students and other applicants seeking to stay?

Come and hear Elizabeth Long of Long Mangalji LLP speak on her previous year working with PR applicants and her critical reflection on the efficacy of the Express Entry System in meeting Canada’s demand for skilled immigrants.

The above quote is taken from HIVEX 2016 keynote speaker and CEO of CivicAction, Sevaun Palvetzian. It demonstrates not only one of the qualities unique to the youth generation – my generation – but also the ability among youth to harness the power of technology to transform their environments. Our generation of young students and professionals has ideas for creating change and progress, and the potential impact of our actions is amplified when we put to use our growing skills in technology and social media.

Yet, participating in HIVEX 2016 has reconfirmed to me that despite our digital connected-ness, youth have definitely not lost our personal connections with each other and our communities.

The HIVEX 2016 workshops were centred on the themes of idea development, effective communication, and community engagement. The conference covered the steps from having that a-ha moment, to pitching the idea, and to creating community impact. Perhaps one of my favourite workshops was “Engaging Pitch” facilitated by Futurpreneur as it gave me a framework to structure, communicate, and develop my ideas and unique interests. In between workshops* I witnessed an abundance of networking, with people sharing their experiences and plans for the future. Ideas were exchanged between students, working professionals and community organizations, and only time will tell what will be accomplished as a result of these connections.

It is refreshing to see the full potential of youth being recognized and fostered through events such as HIVEX 2016. Youth bring in ideas and fresh perspective.

We collaborate with and learn from generations past and present. Importantly, we are motivated to use our skills to create positive change in our communities. The generation of youth is indeed digitally savvy, but is also capable of being so much more.

*Admittedly, in between workshops there was also a variety of snacks of which I had to try a good number… for science!